NCAA: Timeout rule proposed for injury after ball spotted

The NCAA Football Rules Committee unveiled on Friday its intention to recommend a new rule stipulating that a team would be penalized with a timeout if any of its players appears to be injured and falls to the ground after the ball has been set for the next play.

Feigning injuries, often orchestrated under a coach’s directives, has become a strategic maneuver used by defenses to disrupt the momentum of high-tempo offenses or by offenses to avert delay-of-game penalties and gain an additional timeout.

The committee’s suggestion does not cover the extent proposed by the American Football Coaches Association, which advocated for a player who receives medical attention for an injury to sit out the remainder of the possession. At present, such a player is required to miss only one play before returning to the game.

In the new initiative, if an injured player’s team has exhausted all its timeouts, a 5-yard delay-of-game penalty would be enforced.

These proposed changes await approval by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel, scheduled to review football rules on April 16.

In recent years, the issue of fake injuries has garnered attention from the rules committee. Since 2021, schools or conferences can request a postgame video review from Steve Shaw, the national coordinator of officials, focusing on suspicious injury-related behavior. If a player is deemed to have faked an injury to exploit the rules, the respective team’s conference is informed for potential disciplinary measures.

Shaw emphasized the importance of not compelling players to sit out the rest of a possession to ensure genuine injuries are properly assessed on the field rather than pushing athletes to play through potential harm.

“Looking at video clips, such injuries often don’t occur at the play’s conclusion but after a delay following the spotting of the ball,” Shaw explained. “Addressing these cases can improve fairness in the game.”

Regarding overtime timeouts, the panel proposed that starting from the third overtime, each team should have only one timeout for the remainder of the game. This changes the current rule where teams receive a timeout each overtime period. The reasoning is that as games shift to alternating 2-point tries from the third overtime, interruptions for timeouts should be minimized given only two plays per extra session.

Additionally, the committee suggested refining replay decision terminology such that referees announce whether the call “upheld” or “overturned” during instant replay reviews. The phrases “confirmed” and “stands” would not be in usage, to avoid unnecessary deliberation during reviews over these decisions.

In dealing with having 12 men on the field, the committee recommended that following the two-minute warning in either half, if the defense has too many players who are active in the play, a 5-yard penalty will be imposed. The offense can choose to revert the game clock to its state before the play started if the extra player influences the play. Conversely, if a 12th defender tries to leave the field without affecting the game, only a 5-yard penalty would be incurred, with no clock adjustment.

This proposed change formalizes guidance issued in October, which came after Oregon’s coach Dan Lanning’s team intentionally committed a substitution violation in a close win over Ohio State. An Oregon defender stepping onto the field caused an illegal substitution, resulting in a penalty that cost Ohio State critical seconds without benefiting them much with the 5-yard gain.

Among other proposals, if any return team member performs a “T” signal during a kick, play should immediately stop. Furthermore, no player shall mimic defensive signals that replicate offensive cues, ensuring terms such as “move” and “stem” are exclusive to defensive players, prohibiting their use by offenses. Additionally, the committee endorses allowing coach-to-player communication within the Football Championship Subdivision.